Armor for vessels.



M. LOWY.

ARMOR FR VESSELS. APPLICATION HLED 1AN.6,1916.

Patented Oct. 24, 19M.

/f i /NVENTOR @y j ATTORNEY LQTED STATES PATENT OFFICE Monnrs LovrY, orNEW troni; n. Y.

ARMOR FOB. VESSEIS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

atented Got. 24, Iiiii.

Application filed January 6, 1916. Serial No. 70,645.

The present invention relates to an armor for war vessels, and is basedupon the well known principle that a projectile will not penetrate ayielding obstruction as readily as it will a rigid and stationary one.Armors of this type usually comprise protecting,- plates which aremounted upon the vessels in a manner to permit of their yielding inorder to Y rrest or absorb the force of the projectile thrown againstthe same. These plates are either partly or wholly submerged in waterand thereby, obviously, greatly retard the normal speed of the vessel.

The main object of the present invention is to obviate this defect ofthe protecting devices heretofore in use, and with this object in view,it consists, broadly, in so mounting the armor or protecting` platesupon the vessel that said plates can be raised or lowered, at will, toprotect certain belts or portions of the vessel, or, said plates may beraised out of the water to permit the vessel to assume its normal fullspeed, if so desired.

lli/lith these and other objects in view, which will more fully appearas the nature of the invention is better-understood, the same consistsin the combination, arrangement and construction of parts hereinafter`fully described, pointed out in the appended claims and illustrated inthe accompanying drawings, it being understood that many changes may bemade in the size and proportion of the several parts and details ofconstruction within the scope of the appended claims without departingfrom the spirit` or sacriiicing any of the advantages of the inycntion.

@ne of the many possible embodiments of the invention is illustrated inthe accompanying drawings, in which z* Figui-o 1 is a side elevation ofa 'vessel provided with an armor constructed 1n accordance with thcpresent invention; Fig. 2 is a side elevation of a portion of saidvessel lforl? and State of New York, have invented on a larger scale;Fig. 3 is a section taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 2; a .d Fig. 4 is asection taken on line e-flof Fig.

Referring to the drawings, the numeral 1G indicates the hull of a warvessel or the like, to which the improved armor is designed to beapplied. Upon the outer face of the hull are mounted verticallyextending bars l1, arranged in pairs. These bars are provided withhorizontal portions 12, which are ati-' tached by rivets 13, orotherwise, to the said hull, thereby holding` the said bars at asuitable distance from the outer face of the hull. W ith cach pair ofbars is associated a frame 1l, carrying' in a manner hereinafter to bedescribed an armor plate l5. lnasmuch these frames and the armor platesconnected therewith are all`alike, only `one of the same will bedescribed herein.

The frame .1.1i may be made in the form of a. vertically extendingplate. denoted in. the drawings by the numeral lo. Upon the four cornersof this plate are formed lugs 17, through which extend apertures 18. lnthese apertures are seated the bars 1.1. abovementioned. Upon the plateare furthermore formed horizontally inwardly extending legs 19, whichcarry at their inner free ends anti-friction rollers 20, that are seatedin the grooves 2l of channehirons 22, the said channel-irons being`disposed in parallel relation to their respective hars 1l and attachedto the hull. Upon each plate are formed two pairs of legs, each pairbeingconnected by tie-rods 23, to properly brace the same.

The'armor plate associated with the frame is made of two sections, towit: Q4 and The section Q5 extends in parallel relation to the plate 1Gof the frame, and has attached thereto in any suitable manner a plurality of planners 26, which extend in hori- Zontal directions throughapertures :27 in the plate 16. To the inner ends of the plungers isattached a vertically disposed frame 28, that is connected to the plate16 hy a plurality of heavy, normally closedspring's 29. These springsare interposed between the plate 16 and the frame 28, their ends being`attached to the. said plate and frame. The springs 29 are of suchdimensions that, when. vthey are in their normally closed or compressedstate, they hold the armor plate CIK - y is` to be protected 25 asuitable distance from the outer face of the plate 16. The secondsection of the armor plate, that is to' say the plate 24, has ixedthereto a plurality of horizontally arranged bolts 30, which extendthrough openings 31 in the armor plate section 25, and carry upon theirinner free ends heads 31. Between the two sections of thev armor plateare interposed normally open or expanded springs 32, which are fastenedto the said two sections of the armor plate, and hold the same normallyat a suitable distance from each other.

To the upper legs of the frame 14 is attached in any suitable manner apair of cables 33, which run over sheaves 34 and 35, the latter beincarried by brackets 36, which are attache to the hull. The cables extendinto the body of the hull, and are connected with suitable means forraising or lowering the frame 14 and the armor plates carried thereby.The mechanism for effecting this movement has not been shown, inasmuchas the same may be of any suitable construction and does not form partof this invention.

The height and width of the armor plates may be of any suitable size,their height depending mainly upon the 'height of the portion of thehull which they are intended to protect. Their to the requirements,their arrangement being such that they form a row of plates whichembraces, as it were, the hull.

The operation of this device is as follows: When the armor is to be madeuse of against submarine attack, the frames 14 with the parts carriedthereby are lbrought into their lowermost positions (Fig. 3).. If, onthe other hand, that portion of the hull against attack which is abovewater, the frames and the armor plates are brought into their raisedpositions. Une of the armor plates is shown partly raised in Fig. 2 ofthe drawings, and three of the same in their highest positions in Fig. 1of the drawings. It is obvious that when the armor plates are in theirlowermost positions, they reduce to some extent the speed of the vessel.If the vessel, for some reason, is to go at its highest possible speed,all frames and armor plates are raised out of the water, in which case,obviously, they do not a'ect the speed of the vessel.

A projectile striking the section 24 of an armor plate meets with ayieldin resistance, and causes both sections of the p ate to move towardthe hull, thereby expanding the springs 29. Before the springs 29,however, are acted upon, the springs 32 must be compressed. The shockreceived by the section 24` of a plate is transmitted to the platesection 25 associated therewith. The shock, however, is not transmittedto the number varies according hull, inasmuch as nok springs areinterposed -l between the armor and the hull. The yielding of an armorplate bythe expansion of the heavy springs 29 prevents a penetration ofthe said armor plate, and the projectile is brought to rest before it.could reach the hull of the vessel. The frames 2S must be disposed at adistance from the outer face of-the hull, which is greater than the.length to which the springs 29 would be expanded upon being struck bythe heaviest projectile.

It is to be observed that the protecting device is mounted in such amanner upon the vessel that itv can' be conveniently detached therefrom.This may be desirable in times of peace. v

1. In an armor for vessels, the combination with the hull of a vessel,of a frame slidably disposed upon the outer face thereof, an armor platecarried by said frame in parallel relation to the outer face of saidhull and spaced therefrom, and springs connecting said plate and saidframe.

2. In an armor for vessels, the combination with the hull of a vessel,of a vertically slidable frame disposed upon the outer face thereof, anarmor plate carried by said frame in parallel relation to the outer faceof said hull and spaced therefrom, and springs connecting said plate andsaid frame.

3. In an armor for vessels, the combination with the hull of a vessel,of a frame slidably disposeduponzthe outer face thereof, an armor latecarried by said frame in kparallel relation to the outer face of saidhull and spaced therefrom, springs connecting said plate and said frame,and means for raising or lowering, at will, said frame and the platecarriedl thereby.

4. In an armor for vessels, the combination with the hull of a vessel,of vertically disposed guide rails upon the outer face thereof, a frameslidable upon said guide rails, an armor plate carried by said frame inparallel relation to the outer face of said hull and spaced therefrom,and springs connecting said plate and said frame.

5l In an armor for vessels, the combination with the hull of a vessel,of vertically disposed guide rails upon the outer face thereof, a frameslidable upon said guide rails, an armor plate carried by said frame inparallel relation to the outer face of said hull and spaced therefrom,springs connecting said plate and said frame, and means for raising orlowering, at will, said frame and the plate carried thereby.

6. In an armor for vessels, the combina- I spaced therefrom, plungerscarried by said f am? ssby suppote by spaced heefrom, plungers carfedsal :and normally clos-c Sprmm f plate'and shdably supported by sindfamme, said phmgels and Sad 'ffma and normally cosd sprulgs connectingplunge? and said. frame.

Signed at New Yay@ in the @Gumy New York, and Sti/wie New Yolk, ibisdii-h' day of Jan., A. D. 1916 gna

